General info

The Spitfire Mk Ia is a Rank II British fighter with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/SB) and 2.7 (RB). It was in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

The main purpose, usage and tactics recommendations

General play style

In 1940, in the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire flew to intercept enemy fighters because of its speed and agility, while the Hurricanes were sent to destroy the German Heinkel Bombers. This same logic can be applied to War Thunder Realistic Battles: the Spitfire should first climb, using its excellent rate-of-climb, then intercept high patrolling fighters, if possible, bringing them lower. The Spitfire is fast, with a top speed of around 600km/h, although in a straight line it normally only reaches around 460km/h. Do not engage head-on in the Spitfire. Doing so can destroy your engine, and your gun convergence won't save you. Avoid head-on engagements and go for turn fights. A sensible opponent will try to energy fight you. To avoid destruction, climb quickly away from them, then dart back into their trajectory arc, normally underneath them (high yoyo). You can perform this manoeuvre easily since you have a good lift rate. Eventually the opponent will miss and/or overshoot, allowing you to destroy them, or will dive, which you can follow. But be careful. The Spitfire will wing rip at around 500km/h or less, so don't pull hard or your wings will fly away...

The Spitfire has a relatively good ammo count. The 4-digit ammo can be deceiving, since there are 8 guns on the aircraft, making only around 400 rpg. You can use this to ground attack light or un-armoured targets, usually with stealth or omni-purpose belts, but this job should be left to dedicated gun-platforms, like the Hurricane and Hellcat.

Vehicle characteristics

The Spitfire Mk Ia is one of the British tree line first monoplane designs, alongside the Hurricanes. The Spitfire is most distinctive with its sleek and thin elliptical wing design, a characteristic seen in most future Spitfire variants. The wing on the Spitfire is a Type A, as implied by the name "Mk Ia", which contained four .303 machine guns per wing with a total of eight machine guns.

Its default paint coat consists of a green and tan two-tone coloring, with a white undercoat. The Spitfire Mk Ia possess the Royal Air Force Type A.1 roundel on the fuselage with a yellow outer ring, followed by blue, white, and then a red center. On the wings, the Type B roundels are painted with a simple blue outer ring and a red center. The red, white, blue fin flap exist on the tail vertical stabilizer.

Tactics

When in a fight with an enemy plane which is not Japanese, proceed to entice them into a TnB (Turn and Burn) fight. Wait until they get close enough and then turn into them, forcing a turning fight.

The Spitfire Mk Ia is a plane known for it's manoeuvrability. It is faster than Japanese planes, so if attacked by one, either use a Rolling Scissors technique or just fly away. If in a good position, Boom and Zoom it.

Specific enemies worth noting

Japanese planes - The Japanese fighter planes like the Ki-43 and A6M will turn all over the Spitfire. As such, do not exploit the Spitfire's turning ability against a Japanese opponent. Instead, use the Merlin engine power on the Spitfire to try and outrun the Japanese plane. When attacking Japanese plane, try to use Boom-N-Zoom tactics rather than turning to keep an energy advantage over the opponent.

Biplanes - Biplanes may be slow, but they are among some of the most maneuverable aircraft in War Thunder. You must not try to turn fight them. Instead, climb or dive away from them and then use Boom-N-Zoom tactics. Luckily, biplanes are fragile and your eight machine guns will tear them apart.

Heavy Bombers - Although you have eight machine guns, they are only 7.7mms. With larger aircraft, you may find yourself expending all of your ammunition and not even coming away with a kill. The Spitfire is also quite fragile. You need to be careful of defensive turrets. Even light machine guns can take out your engine, kill your pilot and destroy combat surfaces.

Counter-tactics

Pros and cons

Pros:

Good anti-fighter armament of eight machine guns that can shred them apart.

Specifications

Armaments

Please note this is still in the alpha stage and all the bugs in the data mining code have not been worked out yet. The data this was done on is not necessarily up to date.

Disclaimer:
Displayed information is under constant review. Game mechanics can and will change. The Wikipedia crew can not and does not guarantee up to date values.
Rating values are not a real-life representation of effects or damage and have been modified/simplified for viewer readability and satisfaction.

Weapon information:Rate of fire how many rounds per minute the weapon will fire on average, rate of fire has a max and min range
Maximum dispersion at 500m this represents the accuracy of the weapon at 500m and might not be correct depending on how the weapon is mounted in the plane
Time to high chance of jamming this represents the of a weapon jamming every round is greater then a threshold decided by wiki staff (around 10% chance per round)

Projectile properties:
'Mostly self-explanatory. The field's colour represents the ingame's tracer colour.Fuse sensitivity (This is a common source for "sparkles") is the threshold thickness required to set off an explosive charge. Average thicknesses are >1mm for duralumin, >0.1 for wood and >0.01 for canvas. The shell can pass through an aircraft without being set off, or only trigger after passing through the second layer and explode almost harmlessly outside the plane.

Physical projectile:Damage rating uses statistical maximum (removing outliers) of all weapons of caliber up to Mk103 Minengeschoss as 100 unit fixpoint.Fire rating also includes the projectile's penetration, it however does not include the ability of HE to cause fires. A fire rating of 0 does not mean it can not cause fires just means it's has the minimum chance.Optimal gives the range at which kinetic striking power is halved.

High explosive:Damage rating is the possible average damage (uses statistical maximum (removing outliers) of all weapons of caliber up to Mk103 for 100 unit fixpoint) over the maximum HE-radiusRadius. volumetric blast distance. Everything in the radius receives damage.

Fragmentation:Damage rating is representation of total combined damage weighed against the chance of a fragment to hit an object inside the radius (uses statistical maximum (removing outliers) of all weapons of caliber up to Mk103 for 100 unit fixpoint).Radius is the maximum travel range of the shrapnel fragments; Not everything in the radius receives damage, this can be because of luck or the fragment was stopped by something before it reached the target

303 Browning

Pros

Cons

Weapon information

Rate Of Fire ~ 1000.00 rounds per minute

default gun

Maximum dispersion at 500m = 1.57m
Time to high chance of jamming = 11.70sec

bmg303 new gun

Maximum dispersion at 500m = 3.32m
Time to high chance of jamming = 9.70sec

The .303 was a rifle round, accurate but fairly ineffective in air combat unless in skilled hands. The calibre was chosen over the .50 as it was lighter, had a higher rate of fire and was less susceptible to jamming. However, it required an average 4500 rounds to disable an enemy aircraft [2], of which 250 rounds needed to hit (i.e. a full 2-second burst). Accurate placing of the shot was essential, as it lacked sufficient energy to cause structural damage.

The design used an open bolt mechanism to allow air to flow through the barrel and prevent overheating. This worked well at lower altitudes, but caused icing at high altitude. The red canvas wing-port covering kept the gun clean and warm; later marks also ducted hot air from the engine to regulate the breech temperature. [3]

RAF recommended convergence in 1939 was 400 yards [365 meters] in contrast to the Luftwaffe, with experience from the Spanish Civil War, using 200 meters (which the RAF adopted by mid-1940). Although many high scoring pilots reduced this, closing to 150 yards [137 meters] or less for an accurate kill, others ignored convergence altogether or went to a box-shot where paired guns were set to different convergences.

Choice of ammunition is essential as AP and ball rounds rely on kinetic energy to cause damage, which is lost quickly in small calibre rounds. The API round will also transfer chemical energy into the target and so will be more effective on lightly armoured targets, particularly if they hit something flammable. Pure tracer rounds help targeting, especially in combat manoeuvres where lead varies, but have little penetration on contact. [4]

Armour

38 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.

4 mm Steel plate in pilot's seat.

6-7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.

Engine & mobility

Engine

Name: Rolls-Royce Merlin-III 12-cylinder inline

Cooling type: Water

Max power: 561 hp (Stock), 1094 hp (Upgraded)

Takeoff power: 858 hp (Stock), 1391 hp (Upgraded)

Mass: 625 kg

Name: Rolls-Royce Merlin-III 12-cylinder inline

Cooling type: Water

Max power: 552 hp (Stock), 900 hp (Upgraded)

Takeoff power: 849 hp (Stock), 1197 hp (Upgraded)

Mass: 625 kg

Name: Rolls-Royce Merlin-III 12-cylinder inline

Cooling type: Water

Max power: 552 hp (Stock), 900 hp (Upgraded)

Takeoff power: 849 hp (Stock), 1197 hp (Upgraded)

Mass: 625 kg

Stats

Stock

Max speed: 523 km/h

at height: 4,267 m

Max altitude: 10,000 m

Turn Time: 16.9 s

Rate of Climb: 7.5 m/s

Takeoff run: 300 m

Upgraded

Max speed: 619 km/h

at height: 4,267 m

Max altitude: 10,000 m

Turn Time: 14.7 s

Rate of Climb: 30.0 m/s

Takeoff run: 300 m

Stock

Max speed: 508 km/h

at height: 4,267 m

Max altitude: 10,000 m

Turn Time: 17.7 s

Rate of Climb: 10.8 m/s

Takeoff run: 300 m

Upgraded

Max speed: 584 km/h

at height: 4,267 m

Max altitude: 10,000 m

Turn Time: 15.0 s

Rate of Climb: 19.5 m/s

Takeoff run: 300 m

Stock

Max speed: 508 km/h

at height: 4,267 m

Max altitude: 10,000 m

Turn Time: 17.7 s

Rate of Climb: 10.8 m/s

Takeoff run: 300 m

Upgraded

Max speed: 584 km/h

at height: 4,267 m

Max altitude: 10,000 m

Turn Time: 15.0 s

Rate of Climb: 19.5 m/s

Takeoff run: 300 m

Performance

Warning this is still in the test phase and is probably incorrect. Take information with a grain of salt (data taken from 1.55)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0

0.28

0.56

0.84

1.12

1.4

Horsepower in 1000hp

Altitude in 1000m

Supercharger Stage #1: 100%

Supercharger Stage #1: WEP

Modules and improvements

History of creation and combat usage

Aces

The Spitfire Mk.1A was the iconic British aircraft of the Battle of Britain. Leading Spitfire aces of this battle were: [5]